Andrew Charlton (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Lebanon is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and the Lebanese diaspora has contributed much to Australia. But Lebanon now needs help as it struggles to cope with the burden of 1,500,000 Syrian refugees. That is a massive number, compared to the 4.5 million Lebanese citizens.

Lebanon hosts the largest number of refugees per capita in the world: 650 refugees per square kilometre. Refugees in Lebanon, including Syrians and those of other nationalities, now constitute approximately one-third of the total population of Lebanon. This is an unreasonable burden on a small country. If European countries took the same number of refugees, there would be 39 million refugees in Germany, 30 million in France and 28 million refugees in Italy. Between 2012 and 2024, the direct financial and economic impact of the Syrian displacement on Lebanon exceeded $55 billion.

The international community must support Lebanon. We need to support the safe return of displaced Syrians to their homeland. We need to ensure that refugees in Lebanon are protected but also that the possibility of a safe and sustainable return to Syria remains open, viable and possible. We need to secure appropriate accommodation for refugees, with appropriate services provided by the international community.